Coupling



G. E. SPRAGUE.

COUPLING.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT.27, I919.

1,364,213, Patented Jan. 4,1921.

All

5419.5? 3mm 6.1 Sprayue FHCE.

UOUPLING.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 4, 1921.

Application filed September 27, 1919. Serial No. 326,742.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, GEORGE EDWIN Srnacun, a citizen of the United States, residing at Cambria, in the county of Willi amson and State of Illinois, have invented new and useful Improvements in Couplings, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in couplings more particularly designed for mine cars and the principal object of the invention is to provide means whereby the cars will be automatically coupled together when a part on one car strikes a part on the other.

Another object of the invention is to provide means whereby the cars may be quickly and easily uncoupled.

Still another object of the invention is to provide emergency means which may be used to automatically couple the cars together if the coupling pin should break.

The invention also consists in certain other features of construction and in the combination and arrangement of the several parts, to be hereinafter fully described illustrated in the accompanying drawings and specifically pointed out in the appended claims.

In describing my invention in detail, reference will be had to the accompanying drawings wherein like characters denote like or corresponding parts throughout the several views, and in which Figure 1 is a view of the adjacent ends of two cars showing my coupling in use.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged view partly in section of the coupling head.

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the coupling head.

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the latch member.

Fig. 5 is a erspective view of the con pling pin and its handle.

Fig. 6 is a view of the U-shaped pivot pin for the latch member.

Fig. 7 is a section on line 7- 7 of Fig. 1.

In these views 1 and 2 indicate the ends of mine cars which are to be coupled together. Each of these cars is provided with a drawbar 3 which passes entirely through the car and has at one end the coupling loop 4 and at its other end the coupling member 5. The loop is rigidly attached to the drawbar while the member is pivoted thereto so that it can swing in a horizontal plane.

'lhe body of said member consists of pair of U-shaped members 6 engaging with each other and one of these U-shaped members carries a rod 7 which passes through a hole in the other member and a pair of springs 8 are threaded on this rod and en gage the other-member soas to yieldingly hold said other member against movement relative to the first member. As will be seen from Fig. 7 the limbs of one of the members 6 engage recesses formed in the cross piece of the other member so that lateral movement of said members is prevented.

The outer U-shaped member carries a coupling head 9 which is of forked-shape and has one prong provided with a slot 10 and the other prong provided with a groove 11 on its inner face. A substantially V-shaped latch member 12 engages the slot in the vforked part and is pivoted therein by the Ushaped pin 13. One limb of this latch member is inclined and is provided with a recess 14 at its end, while the other limb of said latch member is provided with a hole 15 and has a beveled edge 16 adjacent said hole. This beveled edge is adapted to engage the i'nclined'end of the free, leg of the il-shaped pin 13 so that said pin will be raised and upon "further movement. of the latch member the said free leg will drop into the hole 15 and thus lock the latch member in coupling position. This action will not take place, however, unless the coupling pin hereinafter to be described should break and permit the latch member to swing inwardly to the limit of its movement and thus permit the hole 15 to pass from beyond the outer edges of the slotted forked part.

A hole 17 is formed in the grooved prong and this hole communicates with the groove 11 in said prong. A part of this hole is of square formation and a coupling pin 18, also of square formation engages said hole. This pin is provided with a notch 19 having its upper wall inclined as shown at 20 and this notch is so located that when the pin is in its lowest position said notch will register with the groove. In this way when the inclined end of the latch member enters the groove it will strike the incline 20 and force the pin upwardly so that the latch member may enter the notch and these parts are so proportioned that the inclined end of the latch member striking the vertical wall of the notch 19 will bring the latch member to rest with the recess 14 therein directly under the upper wall of the notch 19 so that said pin may drop downwardly and engage said notch and thus lock the latch member in latching position.

The pin has secured to its upper end an operating handle 21 which is pivoted thereto and has a cam part 22 for engaging the upper face of the forked part of the coupling head so as to raise the pin when the handle is swung upwardly.

It will thus be seen that when the latch member is in open position its front leg which is provided with the recess 14 will extend in front of one of the prongs of the forked part while its other leg will extend across the opening between the prongs. The latch member is prevented from moving beyond this position by shoulders 23formed thereon engaging with the end of the prong. Thus when the cars come together the loop member 4 will strike the inner leg of the latch member so as to swing the latch member on its pivot and permit the loop member to pass within the forked end of the head. In this swinging movement of the latch member its end will pass into the groove 11 and strike the coupling pin raising the same and then permit the pin to drop and engage the recess in said latch member and thus lock the latch member in closed position and so hold the loop member within the forked head. The cars are now coupled together and when it is desired to uncouple them the handle 21 is swung upwardly to raise the pin and thus free the latch member to permit the same to swing outwardly and re lease the loop member.

If the coupling pin should break the latch member would be permitted to pass inwardly a greater distance so that the hole 15 would come beyond the outer side face of the coupling head. This would cause the beveled edge 16 to strike the" inclined end of the pin 13, causing the same to ride up said edge and engage said hole 15 and thus lock the latch member in closed position. In this case when it is desired to uncouple the car the til-shaped pin is raised to withdraw it from the hole 15 to permit the latch member to be swung to open position.

In order to keep the pin 13 in engagement with the pivotal point of the latch member one leg of the pin is made longer than the other so that said pin may be raised without withdrawing the long leg from engagement with the latch member.

By pivoting the coupling member to the drawbar the same will swing in a horizontal plane to permit the cars to round curves and the like and the spring connections between the U-shaped members will act as shock absorbers or bumpers when the cars come together.

The springs 8, act separately, the spring in the rear acting as a shock absorber or bumper and also acts to hold the coupling head in extended position so that said head is held in position to receive the loop on the other car at all times. The other spring acts as an expansion member and allows the extension of the coupling in rounding curves where bumpers would otherwise cramp the cars in passing short curves. This spring also acts as a shock absorber. This spring also holds the members rigid and the rod passing through the members serves to hold said members in alinement and the springs in position.

It is thought from the foregoingdescription that the advantages and novel features of my invention will be readily apparent.

I desire it to be understood that I may make changes in the construction and in the combination and arrangement ofthe several parts, provided that such changes fall within the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim is 1. A coupling device of the class described comprising a fork shaped coupling head having one prong slotted and its other prong provided with a grooved inner face, a ll-shaped latch member pivoted in the slotted prong with one limb working in said slot and the end of its other limb adapted to engage the groove in the other prong, said other limb having a recess therein and a beveled edge and a vertically movable coupling pin in the grooved prong having a notch therein provided with an inclined face which is adapted to be struck by the beveled edge of the latch member to raise the pin to permit the latch member to move into a position where the pin will engage the recess.

2. A coupling device of the class described comprising a coupling head of fork-shape, a substantially l-shaped latching member pivotally mounted therein, a coupling pin carried by the head for automatically locking the latching member in closed position and emergency locking means for the latching member consisting of an extension of the pivot pin and means carried by the inner leg of the latching member for causing said extension to lock said latching member in closed position if the coupling pin should break.

3. A coupling device of the class described comprising a coupling head of fork shape having one of its prongs slotted and the other prong provided with a groove in its inner face, a V-shaped latch member pivotally mounted in the slotted prong and having one limb adapted to work in the slot and the end of its other limb provided with a recess and adapted to engage the grooved prong, a coupling pin vertically movable in the grooved prong and having a notchtherein having an inclined face adapted to be struck by the latch member so as to raise the pin to permit the latch member to pass until its recess registers With the notch said pin acting as a stop to prevent further inward movement of the latch member, the pivot pin oi the latch member being of substantially U-shape and the rear limb of the latch member having a hole at its extremity and a beveled edge for engaging a part of the U-shaped pin, it the coupling pin should 10 break, for holding the latch member in coupling position.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

GEORGE EDWIN SPRAGUE. 

